There probably isn’t anyone who hasn’t heard the old saying, “Good enough is good enough,” or even “Good enough for government work.” the trouble is, however, that to a growing extent, good enough isn’t good enough, and if you determine that a job really is good enough for government work, chances are very good that you won’t ever work on another government project again. And that goes even for companies that might not deal directly with the government, but even for those who do work for companies that do work for the government. Further, there are many industries where good enough simply isn’t good enough. This includes electronics and other work where a high degree of accuracy is required for a product to work as it should. This is made even more complicated by the fact that in these industries inspections by the human eye doesn’t yield nearly the results required for thorough inspections.
The solution in these cases is auto optical inspections, which consist of specially designed machines that deliver the high precision products that are expected to be delivered in so many businesses. These results include several that work in your favor:
Speed. There are many things that are quicker than the human eye. Fortunately, among these are AOI machines. After an AOI machine is set up, circuit boards that would normally take hours to examine are not only seen quicker, but they are also done so far more accurately than when human eye examination is the basis for review. And even when an operator is called to review the mistakes that are found by an AOI machine, you are still talking about considerably less time than would be done otherwise by hand.
Accuracy. The human eye is prone to error. Everyone knows that. on the other hand, AOI machines are highly accurate when searching for and finding errors in circuit boards. And when you use an experienced AOI machine operator, the chances of ending up with accurate and error-free circuit boards is exceptionally high. And anyone knows that the earlier these types of errors are caught and addressed reduces time lost in later stages of the manufacturing process.
Fast Catches. As soon as an AOI machine catches a problem, an operator is notified, which speeds up the process of manufacturing considerably since errors are addressed as they happen. Once errors are caught they can be fixed before they head to further steps in the manufacturing process. With AOI machines, errors are caught before they must be addressed later on.
Greater Quality Consistency. Having zero errors is important in circuit board examination. But even more important is to have zero errors in quality consistently. This standard, which can be achieved and maintained with high-quality AOI machines, is critical to a profitable operation. The human eye is prone to consistent errors, ROI machines are not.
Less Stress and Strain. Workers are prone to all sorts of factors as they work. this is not only caused by stress and strain, but stress and strain cause humans to make errors. ROI machines are not prone to these same influences. This makes them not only more reliable when they work, but a stress reliever for the humans who work with them.
It is important to note that ROI machines aren’t perfect. Just like humans, they can experience problems due to their work. On the bright side, ROI machines have proven their ability to work at much higher levels than humans, and for greater quality time than even other machines. ROI machines aren’t cheap either, but once they have been effectively employed, even with their shortcomings, they are a proven time and money saver that should be used in virtually every inspection process. The point with ROI machines is not that there might still be errors, but the chances of there being errors are much less, and less likely to cause problems in the later stages of the production process. The bottom line for ROI machines is that they don’t cost, they pay. And for those manufacturers who use them, it’s not a matter of use them and weep, but use them and reap, in both the short and long term.
